The Superb, the BETTER version!
by DarkWriter00
Summary: Jake recieves a mysterious email. Someone claiming to know the Ellimist and willing to help them. The group meets a human girl named Laura. And she and Jake have two very big things in common... 1. The Yeerks must be stopped, and 2...
1. You've Got Mail

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Hey, I decided to start all over on this story. It's a good thing too, because I've made "Ultra Being" to be more original and complex than I have thought of before. You can go on ahead and read the discontinued and older version. It's blah in contrast to this one. Enjoy.

ANIMORPHS

The Superb

Chapter 1

My name is Jake. Just Jake. I could tell you my last name and where I live, but I can't. Not when I know when the enemy's everywhere. Alien invaders. Yeerks. I'm not surprised if you think, _What? Aliens? This guy's crazy. _ It's normal. Believe what I say anyway, because everything I _can_ tell you is true.

I can't tell you the whole names of those who I care about. Yeerks are little parasitic slugs. They live inside the heads of organisms, taking total control over the mind and body. _Total_ control. I know, because I was a Controller once, for three days. …I don't think I could ever forget about it. Especially when I know when my older brother, Tom, is one of them. That's what we call a human who is overpowered by a Yeerk. You heard me right. They're invading Earth. They've ruled over other races of the galaxy, like the Hork-Bajir, Taxxons (though not involuntarily), Gedds, maybe more than I could count. But I'm mostly concerned about our planet, Earth. A Human-Controller could be anyone. Your teacher, the local police, your best friend, your parents, even one of your siblings, like how my brother is one of them. The Yeerks are everywhere. My town, your town, everywhere.

My story begins at home. It was summer. School was out. It was late at night and I was on the computer. I logged onto the internet. My family has DSL now, for dialup was such a pain. Anyway, I was checking my email first, like I normally do once I'm logged in. No, I can't tell you my email address, because some Controllers could be computer nerds. Not that I was one. My best friend, Marco, knows more about computers than I do.

I see I had a bunch of new mail, junk mostly. And chain letter things I usually don't participate in. Win a free laptop! No, sorry. I got a computer and I don't need another one. I blocked the sender. Junk, Junk, a forward I didn't care about, Junk… There was one that didn't look like spam or junk mail. It had my name in the subject. "Jake," it just read. I didn't recognize the sender though. Who knows? The email could be among many Marco has. He likes to prank me through the internet sometimes. I clicked on it anyway.

This is Jake, head of the Animorphs, right?

I nearly leaned too far back in my chair once I read that sentence. Marco wouldn't go that far into pranking me. It's usually more tongue and cheek when it comes to that. I kept reading, dreading that we were so dead. A Controller has found out about who I am, somehow. That's how I felt before going back to the following…

I'm Laura. Like you, it's hard to live a normal, human life. You know the Ellimist, I'm sure, because he couldn't have when he told me about you guys. A little late in the game, I know. I wish he could've told me sooner. But let me tell you, he says I wasn't ready back then. Ready to help you protect this planet of ours, when I mostly live just out of orbit from it.

Ellimist hasn't told me everything, but just some brief things. About the roles each of you have, and the Andalites. And how you can morph. I can do that, and many other things.

Gather the others together in Cassie's barn, tomorrow morning. I'll meet you there. We can all discuss more about it in person. Even though I'm not real worried, I can't reveal too much on the net. Anyway, see ya tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to it.

For a few moments, I just sat there in disbelief. I stared at the monitor. Ellimist. What would he be doing with a human? Did he give her the power to morph? He usually doesn't interfere like that. The Ellimist is not from Earth, but he likes to _pretend_ to help a little bit and try to conserve our planet among others. No one knows very much about him. It didn't make sense. _But if she says she's coming…_ A part of me was silently arguing, _but what if it's a trap?_ _Do the Yeerks know about Ellimist?_ …I don't know. I didn't think so.

As I was just…bewildered and stunned of all of this, letters slowly formed into words on the monitor. And the email's already been sent!

Trust me, the Yeerks know nothing about Ellimist, or myself.

This was impossible, and incredibly weird. It was like the person…or thing…that sent the email had been reading my thoughts. I've seen plenty of weird and bizarre things, but nothing like this. The words kept appearing. Was it this Laura person, typing? It had to be, because I was sure I didn't mention online about…

While I'm online, I guess I should predict what time I'd be over… How about 9 or 9:30 AM, tomorrow morning? Yeah, sounds reasonable. Well, I should go to bed then. You should get some sleep too, Jake. It's gonna be a big day for all of you.

Then, the message ended, just like that. Right then, I wanted to call Marco, Rachel, or Cassie and tell them what just happened. I checked the clock. It was indeed late, a little past 11:30. My friends would most likely be asleep by now. So, I decided I'd notify the group early, tomorrow morning. Before nine. An hour or half hour early would be best. We had to be prepared and ready if Laura or whoever this person was, tried to attack us or turn us in.


	2. It's Too Early

Chapter 2

"So, we have our own online stalker now? An online Yeerk stalker? How would they know that we're human, anyway," Marco ranted. "I think I'll have to have a serious talk with my firewall." Rachel looked really tired, and very, very irritated. She gave each of us a glare. "I know I haven't told any of my life of being and Animorph on the internet. That's just stupid!" I found out when we first met at Cassie's barn that Marco, Cassie, and Rachel have received a similar message in emails last night. She sent Marco a look, especially. "What? You think _I_ would sell us out?" "Everyone, calm down," I said. I was a little tired. I believed "Laura" should have decided 10 AM instead of around nine. I couldn't get much sleep that night. My mind was just full of questions that couldn't be answered. Rachel was cranky. Marco was just the same.

-(Maybe once this Laura person comes here as scheduled, she'll start explaining,)- Tobias suggested. -(I don't understand what the Ellimist has to do with the human, if she is one,)- said a confused Ax. It's short for Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. He's an Andalite. He's a mix of a human, deer and a scorpion basically, with blue and tannish fur. He has four eyes. Two of them that can turn in different direction on stalks. The other two are where a pair of human eyes would be. Those would be his main eyes. What's deadly about an Andalite, is the scythe blade near the end of his tail. I saw Ax use it in battle many times. It strikes so fast that you can't see it move.

"I think all of us are on the same page here," Marco said, a little calmer now. "We don't know what to think, but to remain here until nine." "We need to think on how to deal with this situation," I strongly insisted. "Absolutely right," Rachel piped up in agreement. "We can morph, right? If she tries anything, we'd take her down in our battle morphs."

Cassie, though, had been pretty quiet, listening to us argue and complain and moan about "Laura." She was tending to some of the animals, but listened in on what each of us had to say on this. The barn is the Wildlife Rehabitation Center. Both of her parents are veterinarians. Cassie and her dad run what goes on in the barn. They take in sick injured squirrels, hawks, deer, wolves. Any local animal that lives around here. Cassie's mom works at the Gardens, which is home to some more exotic animals. It's a zoo and amusement park all in one. So, this means that Cassie is our animal expert. She even picks out new morphs for us from time to time. To become an animal for two hours, we have to touch the animal, or acquire it, for a DNA sample.

Once Rachel was done talking, she spoke up. "But what if she really is an ally? What if it's all really true? The morphing capability and other things she could do, I mean… I think it would be pretty nice to have another ally." I considered her statement there. The more allies, the better. We have the free Hork-Bajir colony, a peaceful alien race that lives in a hidden valley. We have the Chee too, peace loving robotic dogs that are our spies. And the Ellimist, only rarely though. "But wouldn't she have considered a later time? Just how many hours does she sleep, anyway," complained Marco. "I know, it's a rather bad time, but she said nine," I pointed out for everyone. I turned to Tobias. He seemed to have known what I was going to suggest. -(I'm already on it, Jake. Later, I'll fly around and take a look to see if she'll come.)- I nodded in approval.

"Still, what if it's a setup? What if she's not with us," Marco pondered. "We morph in battle mode if we need to," I said. It was early in the morning, I was tired, and it seemed to be one of the most reasonable things I could think of. "If it's not, then we should listen in on what Laura has to say," Cassie counter-pointed. "Right," I said. "So, what do we do now? Can I go back to bed," Rachel said, still grumpy. "Even if she is an ally, I'm going to tell her a thing or two…" "Yeah, you do that, Xena," Marco teased. "Beauty sleep must be everything to you." Rachel gave him a death glare and didn't say anything in response.

Rachel is usually like a super model, looking like a spotlight is on her all the time. But this morning, for once in our lives, she did not look pretty. Most people say she's beautiful, but I don't think of her that way. She's my cousin. But she's not about looks. Deep inside of her is a warrior. That's why Marco refers to her as Xena: the Warrior Princess. It's like the Yeerk invasion was the best thing to have ever happen in her life. She's there whenever there's danger. She lives to fight. This morning, I don't think she was up to it. Everyone could see the bags under her eyes. She must have stayed up as late as I was. _So, did the weird email thing happen to her too?_ No, everyone else checked their emails in the morning. All but Tobias and Ax. They live in the woods beyond Cassie's barn, and don't have computers.

I checked my watch. It was 7:30 now. We still had time. "So, any last thoughts or opinions," I asked everyone. They were quiet. "I'd like to go back to sleep now, if that's okay." Rachel, of course. I shrugged and rubbed my eyelids. Resting a little more wasn't such a bad idea right now. "Alright, but you better be here by nine." "I'll set my alarm clock then." She left the barn shortly after that.

All of us had gone our separate ways. Most of us were pretty tired. I stayed behind to help Cassie take care of the animals for a bit, then I stepped on my bike and pedaled home. I too, would have to set my alarm clock once I got back in bed.


	3. Laura Makes Her Entrance

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Dude, a few of you are already excited? Wow…and it doesn't get REALLY interesting until chapter 5! Although, that could be just me…

Important Note: This story takes place sometime in between books 13 and 14, to clear the confusion.

Chapter 3

De-DEET! De-DEET! De-DEET! De-DEET! Without much effort, I blindly felt for the snooze button on my alarm clock. It was about fifteen minutes before 9 AM. I quickly went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. This was it, for this Laura person was going to meet us. Every weird question burning in my mind would be answered soon. I couldn't help but think along Rachel's idea of all this being a setup. _Get real. We're all too smart to give any information about us Animorphs to the public,_ I thought. Right? I felt a little sense of dread for either option.

"Hey, midget," said Tom, who I saw standing around on the stairs. "Hey," I said, as casually as I could. "Are Mom and Dad around?" "They went out. Why? You thinkin' about throwing a summer party here?" I forced a laugh. "No, I was just wondering." I walked past him on the way out of the house. "See you later, man."

I grabbed my bike and rode to Cassie's farm again. Tom, my brother who's one of _them_, would be suspicious if I had left in only my morphing outfit. I felt very cautious all of a sudden as I pedaled faster and faster along the block. I had to prepare myself if this was going to be a setup. Rachel would morph to grizzly bear right away if she sensed the slightest hint of trouble.

I checked my watch. It just about nine 'o clock when I arrived at the barn. My friends were all there, including Ax in human morph. And there was one other girl there, grinning at me. "Are you Laura," I asked. "I am," she said. -(Jake, she just arrived here. Out of nowhere,)- Tobias told me in private thought speak. -(I think she might know the Ellimist after all.)- Laura turned her head to look up near the rafters. "Of course I know him, Tobias," she said. "The Ellimist is my friend." I gave a silent signal to Tobias to check if all was clear. "No worries," Laura said to me. "There's no one close by to overhear us."

She was close to being as tall as me. The girl seemed like any normal human kid around our age. Her hair was a long and wavy blond, shoulder length. Similar to Rachel's but it was a very sandy blond shade. Her eyes were brown, and her facial features were slightly different from Rachel's. Most likely on short notice, I would have considered that they were lost twin sisters or something.

Everyone grew quiet for a second when Laura talked to Tobias. "Impossible," Ax said in amazement and disbelief. Rachel stepped up to her. "Hey, just who are you, and how do you know the Ellimist," she demanded. Laura shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a new ally, and have come to help. I've been mostly with Ellimist for just about as long as I could remember. He cared for me since I was a six-year-old, when my parents were killed by the Yeerks. Gave me some powers by the age of twelve so I could come and go among Earth as much as I wanted to. About a few days ago, he's told me about you. The Animorphs."

"Wait, hold up," Marco interrupted. "Ellimist wouldn't do a thing like this. He'd only claim to not be helping much at all." "So you've known in experience," Laura said. She seemed not surprised, but a bit smug. "Ellimist saw how much danger I was in of knowing what had happened, and he claimed me as his own." She looked down at the ground, eyebrows narrowing. "Not exactly a loving parent, but he's been a teacher and a close friend to me." Laura looked to each of us and continued, "I've heard you know about the Chee. Oh, and congrats on freeing some of the Hork-Bajir, by the way." She looked to Tobias, who didn't say anything. "I was told quite a deal about you. I don't think I'd be the same if I were you." I felt as if I grabbed onto a power line. Everyone was surprised. "The Chee and I promised to keep each other a secret. That's why they've never told you about me."

"So, you have the powers of the Ellimist?" asked Cassie. "Technically, yeah," Laura said. "But I've been given pretty much the rule of not interfering much, unlike him." "What," Marco said, not believing this. I couldn't believe it either, but I felt that she was telling the truth. "If you have the same powers as him, why not just make the Yeerks all disappear?" Laura looked to him as she answered, "You know, I'd love to, but I cannot. If I did, then I wouldn't be able to have the abilities anymore, and can't come back to Earth again… I love this planet. I've been in and out of its atmosphere, constantly. Plus, I cannot possibly survive on my own, either. The rest is very complicated." "Complicated?" Rachel pressed. "How so?" My cousin looked like she was ready to pounce on Laura. The other blonde haired girl gave her a hard glare, and a moment later, Rachel's face had an expression of shock. Fear, even. And she's a tough warrior. Xena: the Warrior Princess, as Marco calls her. Never has anybody been able to stand up to her like that. "Hey, I'm only here to help, but I can only do so much without too much interference. Life's all about struggles, ya know? I can only help slow the invasion just a tad." She grinned again, which I felt was very disturbing. "You know why Visser Three's been such a nervous wreck recently? Oh, I've given him some frights in his dreams every now and then."

"Cool," Marco said. "We got a really powerful ally on our hands who can scare the hooves off of Visser Three, and make him wet his bed. Let's be allies." He was being sarcastic. "It takes more than that to keep them at bay, of course. I've only messed with their plans a little," Laura said. "How," I wondered. "Oh, just some small things with the help of Erek, the Chee. Messed up with some of the orders and delayed their actions to go on ahead and make any sudden movements to try to make conquering our home any easier. I impersonate, infiltrate… A little bit of this and that, but if I interfered too much…" She let that hang, and then turned to me for a moment. It was a look of concern or something in her eyes. I didn't know why. Then, it was as gone as quickly as it came.

Rachel was still angry, but kept her distance. "Uh, Laura, did you do something to Rachel," Cassie asked, to which what was on my mind. "I only told her to calm down. See, I got a psychic sense. I felt a lot of tension coming from her, and just sent one word to her mind. Don't." She grimaced toward Rachel. "And I know basically everything about you all, but no fear. I'm for Earth, and against the slugs. They murdered my folks and I'm eager to take my part into keeping our home world safe and sound. Your secrets are safe with me."


	4. Voting Time

Chapter 4

"Everything," Marco breathed, slowly taking this in. "All the important info along with the Yeerks. Example, I know Jake has a brother-Controller. I've seen him before at The Sharing, but I've never harmed him in any way." She looked to Marco directly. I was guessing she was privately letting Marco know that he and I were the only other ones to know that his mom is Visser One. I could see my best friend jump in place. "I can easily tell who's a Controller or not. I can see through their heads." "So, you can just see whether they're Controllers or not," I questioned Laura. She nodded slowly. "But I leave it up to _you_ Animorphs to do the freedom thing. Not just out of respect, but because of my limits in helping." "It's just not fair," Rachel said, after a while. "Well, think about it, people," Laura said in frustration. "It's all I have for a defense mechanism, to take care of myself. I can't possibly go back and forth between all of your homes to help in the fight. I'm offering a hand, and if that's how you want to be, then…"

"Don't you even have a home?" Cassie cut in. "Yeah, but I live alone, pretty much. I got some friends in places from all over the world who aren't Controllers, but I've never told them about the Yeerks. Why? Well, if it got word to around the world, then the invaders would get suspicious. Put two and two together." "But you could easily cover yourself, right," Marco pointed out. He seemed to be right. "Yeah, but what could I do? I'm only one person, and like I said, I'm limited in some ways. They're better off not knowing until a more massive crowd gets the word in. I have to be careful. I'd might have to erase one's memory if I wasn't. I respect humanity, and I don't want to have to do it unless absolutely necessary." She threw her hands up in the air. "I _have_ to take these complications. Sure, I could wipe out the Yeerk home world just by thinking about it, but…" "That would be too much interfering," Rachel scowled. "So, what good are you then?" "I'm getting there, Miss Warrior," Laura replied, in a low voice. "Let's see…unlimited amount of time to change into animals. Don't have to acquire, and I can go straight from one form to the other, and a lot of other simple little things."

"I've done some physical damage, and I can do camouflage, holograms, teleportation, I've heightened my agility, mind reading, memory erasing…" She paused. "That's only a few things on the list I could do." "Jeez, you're a one girl army!" Marco said. "Impossible to refuse me, right," Laura said, smiling. "So, you can help out a little, but not too much," I said. -(Every little bit helps,)- Tobias said unenthusiastically. "Could we see a demonstration," Ax asked curiously. "Deh-muh-stray-shun. Shunnn-nuh." See, in reality, Andalites don't have mouths. So Ax in human morph is always strange. He likes to play with mouth sounds from time to time.

"Sure," she said, and in one second, by the time I blinked, she was gone. For a moment, nothing else happened. "Hey, she ran off," Rachel began to say. -(No I didn't,)- quickly called a thought speak voice. Laura. -(It's just my invisibility. I can do thought speak in any form too. Even in my own.)- We all looked at one another. My friends felt the same way I had. Shocked.

She reappeared, slower than she had vanished. Then, her body flashed in white light as she turned into a cream colored, long haired cat, quickly. In a matter of a few seconds. "Mrow," she called vocally. -(I can usually control the animal instincts with not too much of a problem. To me, it's like jumping onto a wild horse at a rodeo. I can pull hard on the reins if I have a hard time getting in control.)- She then turned straight into another form, without having to go back to her human form first. A bald eagle. "Man, Cassie, looks like we have a better morpher," Marco said.

-(I can also make up a form,)- Laura said, and the bird grew slightly larger and most of the feathers immediately changed to white. A single golden feather emerged out of the top of its head, like a crest. The wings were silver tipped. There were two red circles on the cheeks, like a cockatiel's. That's what Laura looked like. A big, eagle-like, cockatiel. "Oh, wow," Cassie said in awe. -(Quite a beauty, huh? I only do this morph on very rare occasions. I don't do made up morphs around the Yeerks. I'd stick out like a sore thumb in the animal kingdom here if I did that,)- Laura explained.

"Impossible," Ax could only say. Our resident Andalite was speechless. In the next instant, Laura returned to human form. "This has always been my true form," she told us, and moved a strand of sandy blond hair behind her ear. She smiled, showing her teeth, and laughed. "When I first met the Chee, they were bewildered and all. Even when I could morph into one of them, without a problem." -(You've had all this since you were twelve… I'm guessing you're thirteen or fourteen now,)- Tobias assumed. "Fourteen," the supernatural human confirmed. "I've turned that age about months ago. That's when Ellimist decided to tell me about you guys. Although he's my friend, he's…kind of closed off. It's like he doesn't want me too involved with him." She didn't sound happy then. "He cares about me, but it's like he's nervous about getting too close."

What could I say? After seeing her morph so quickly and disappear… She could even point out Human-Controllers, so she claimed. "Well, enough about that," she said, uncomfortable talking about the Ellimist. "Must be hard for you, after losing your parents like that," Cassie said in sympathy. "Yeah, but I don't like getting into details about it, okay?" she snapped. Laura reminded me of Marco then. She looked like she didn't want to be pitied. "Sorry, it's just how I deal with it," she apologized. "I try not to think about it."

I felt most confident about letting her work with us, but I wanted everyone else to have their say first. And that I felt a little, weirded out. It's kind of creepy being around someone like Laura. Knowing about us like she did. "So, it's voting time," Laura asked, faster than I could say it. I looked to her, startled. She looked back to me and gave me an apologetic look. "Oops, my bad. Rushing too ahead of myself now." I shrugged and gave an look to everyone that meant, "Well…?"

"I say she's in," Marco said. "What she can and can't do, okay. I respect, but still…wouldn't it just be a whole lot better if she just wiped out the Yeerks in a snap?" Cassie nodded in agreement, saying, "Welcome on the team, Laura." "Sure, Cassie," Laura said, with a gentle smile. "Y'know, I love animals too." -(I don't see why not,)- Tobias said, but something in his voice told me he wasn't thrilled about it. Maybe he was disturbed about her as much as I was. And that he didn't like the Ellimist. I looked to Rachel. She sounded annoyed. "It _would_ be a lot simpler if she could wipe out the Yeerks. No offense, but why can't she just stand up to Ellimist and not let him take the powers away?" "Hey, I respect his strict rules. He took me in when I was six," Laura countered sternly, mainly reminding my cousin. "All I can do in return for his kindness and small amounts of generosity is to follow his rules."

I started to feel that Rachel and Laura weren't getting along well. Maybe it was because of the psychic sense that Laura had used on her. "Okay, why don't the two of you should just chill?" I said to both of them. Laura became quiet and looked away from Rachel, who argued, "I don't understand you. Aren't you mad about that! I mean-" "Just stop right there, Xena," Laura warned, using Marco's nickname. She didn't even look at Rachel as she said that. "Don't go there." "Hey, I said chill," I repeated, looking at each of them. "Rachel, plain and simple, yes or no?" Rachel kicked a bale of hay and said, "Yeah, the more the merrier, right?" She didn't sound happy at all about it, but accepted.

Then Ax said, "I'll decide what you decide, Prince Jake." "Don't call me 'prince'," I said in automatic response for the two-thousandth time. Ax is a young cadet warrior Andalite and persists that I'm his "prince." I'm usually not real fond of that. I'm only kind of getting used to being the leader, because _someone_ has to make the life and death decisions in this strange group. Everyone looked at me now. I looked to Laura, and sighed. "Well, if you're willing to help us…" "Yeah, sure, I could help in any way I could," she said. She held out her hand. I hesitatingly took it. "Good to be a part of the team," she added, shaking my hand. "I know I'm not technically an Animorph. I'm just a human with limited abilities similar to what Ellimist has. One of a kind. An…Ultra Being." "Ultra Being," Marco repeated, about to make a joke. "Yeah, super-natural's an understatement," Laura said. "And you can just call me Laura." She smiled. "No need to bow or anything. I'm just about as human as the rest of you." Marco laughed in response. "Oh, great," Cassie said, shaking her head with a smile. "We have two comedians now."


	5. Laura Knows About Crayak

**You ready? I'm gonna go ahead and post the next two chapters. Oh, and I want to give you the link to this instrumental I did, in order to get in my writing zone. To get that mysterious and eerie mood when Laura shares a secret with Jake. You can listen to it online if you have Windows Media Player. Otherwise you'd have to register to AcidPlanet in order to download the MP3 version. You can listen to this while reading chapter 5. I'd like to know your compliments about it in your next review!**

**Check my profile for the link!**

Chapter 5

We soon went our separate ways afterward. I was heading home. Rachel glared at Laura once more, then left the barn. Cassie went back to bandaging up a young doe with a wounded leg. Tobias and Ax returned to the woods. Marco and I remained with Laura. "Okay," I said to Laura, "So, where do you live? Do you even have a phone number to reach you by?" "I don't live anywhere near here, but I can give you the number," Laura kindly obliged. She handed Marco and me a couple of cards with a seven digit number. They just appeared. We placed them in our pockets.

After that moment, everything stopped. Everything. Marco stood in place, not moving a single inch. His frozen in time face told me he was looking towards Laura and was about to say something funny. His hand was still in his shorts pocket. A small sparrow hung in the air in mid flight. A car on the road was parked in place. Only…I could move. And Laura could too. Everything else was just frozen in time. Like, you know how someone pushes the pause button to a movie? It was just like that, and it's happened before some time ago. It's an Ellimist trick.

I looked at Laura suspiciously. She had that look I saw before, back at Cassie's barn. A look of worry. I could feel cold dread inside of me already. Something was going on. Laura took the time to speak, while I stared at her. "So, you've…seen him too, in your dreams," she started to say. There was an edge of fear to her voice. "Seen who?" I asked, fearing, dreading.

FLASH! A half machine, half organism sat on its strange throne. The head was a single red eye. It was looking, looking… _No, no…please don't look at me. Don't look at me, please!_ The eye rotated and saw me. SAW me. It was like reliving one of my occasional nightmares all over again. Each time I saw the eye, it would say a single word. "Soon," it would say. "Soon…"

FLASH! I was back with Laura. Everything around us was still frozen in time. "I see him too," Laura said. "Crayak." "…Crayak," I repeated. "The eye has a name?" Laura nodded. "He is the Ellimist's worst adversary." She looked down and paced to the left of me a little as she talked about it. "For millions of years, he's told me, him and Crayak had a war. A really big one." Images started going through my head. Laura was showing me all kinds of alien races. Some of them were very colorful, some of them looked ridiculous, and some looked like living creatures from Hell. Then I saw Laura again, telling me, "They created species after species and had fought. Ellimist told me it ended up disastrous. They both agreed to never fight that way again." She paused, and then spoke again. "I know. I feel the question you have for me: Why do I see Crayak? Like you, I see him in my dreams from time to time. He says more than 'soon' though. Much more." She shuddered. "He's persuading me to join him. I don't know why, being so powerful that he is. He's just as powerful as Ellimist, but he doesn't see with him eye to eye, exactly. …He wants to destroy. Like everything. I feel massive amounts of destructive emotion from him."

"Have you told him about this, you know, for him caring about you and all," I had to ask. Laura nodded slowly and silently. "Once, and he offered to bail me out. He offered to take away the enormous gift he endowed upon me. I never talked to him about Crayak again after that." She took in a breath. "Jake, one of the reasons I felt I had to join the Animorphs was meeting you. Because…" "You know that I have seen Crayak," I said, finishing. She nodded. "In a way, it's good to know I'm not alone in that." I raised an eyebrow. She seemed as scared of the eye as I was. "I can't do anything to make him leave me alone, other than let the Ellimist take away my own means of survival in this crazy, mixed up universe of ours." Laura crossed her thin arms as if the very air around us had dropped a few degrees in the temperature. "They go at it, like some kind of chess game now. They can't ever make war again. Instead, they deal and gamble on who will survive and who won't. If anything to protect Earth, I'd protect it from that…_filth_." Laura's lips were pressed together, angry. She talked about Crayak as if she feared and hated him. It was indeed the way it seemed.

For a short period of time, we said nothing. I didn't know what to feel. I either could be frightened, to know more about the red eye I've seen after I've been tied up and having to be a Controller, or relieved to know I wasn't the only one Crayak was watching. I was stuck in between the two. I took one long look at Laura, as she wiped away lingering tears that fell down her face. "Hey," she said, getting my attention by just a hair, her voice cracking as she broke the silence. "I… stopped time because I know it's been something you've been keeping a secret. Well, it's a secret I keep too. …It's up to you. You're the one in charge of the group. Let it be up to you to tell them about Crayak. Not me." She may have been able to easily…read through me like an open book, but she had respect for humanity and secrecy. "I…just wanted to let you in on all of that." Soon, her voice came back to normal, and she was calmer.

As she said that, everything started moving again. The car on the road sped away. The bird flew. And Marco said his joke. "So, I could call Ellimist anytime I wanted? Harass him on how much _he's_ interfering? Prank call?" Laura slowly smiled, and barked out a gentle laugh. "No, I don't exactly live with him. That's just the number to where I live." Me? I didn't say anything at the time. "Hey, Jake. You okay?" Surely, Marco had noticed me being quiet. I forced a smile and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing in the world's wrong with me." Of course, that was a lie. I glanced at Laura to see she faked a smile too. There was still a faint tear line, but Laura quickly covered that up by laughing a little more.

Marco eventually rode his bike back down the block, mentioning that he had to help his father to do a little garage cleaning. Now it was just Laura and me, getting closer to my house. She did a quick morph into an osprey and rose to the sky as I resumed to pedaling on my bike. I looked up and she lazily floated on the thermals near the street that I lived on. We hadn't spoken a word since Marco left. There were also people around, and I couldn't just talk to her. Maybe… I had this crazy thought. She saw right through me just a couple of minutes ago, which really hadn't passed. I tried to think something toward her, something like, _Are you okay?_ To my surprise, she answered back in thought speak, the usual language whenever my friends and I are in morph. -(Yeah, I'll be alright.)- She descended to land in a tree by the front yard to my house. -(…Sorry about the time freezing moment, but I had to let you know, without anything else causing a problem, you know?)- I nodded as I started to head back into the house, but then stopped. I couldn't just leave her like the way she was, so I directed my thoughts to her again.

Morph back, and come inside. I looked to make sure nobody saw us, and by the time I looked back up the tree, Laura was back as a human girl again, but she was sitting in the branches. She looked puzzled and unsure. "You…don't mind my company? I was thinking of letting you be, since it must have been a mind rattling experience for you in what I did." She jumped down from the tree and landed in the grass on her feet. She took a leaf out of her long hair.

We walked inside the house. Tom was in the kitchen, passing us by. "Hey midget…" Then all of a sudden, he recognized Laura, and the Yeerk in my older brother's head decided to put on an over friendly act. Of _course_, because Laura's been with the Chee at The Sharing, unnoticed. So she'd _have_ to end up meeting with Tom sometime. "Hey, Laura," he said, slapping a hand on her shoulder. "What brings you here? Didn't see you at the last get together. What's up with that?" Laura didn't seem to be bothered by this. She was just as friendly toward Tom. "Hey! Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I'm going to have to think about taking the offer to being a full member. I like to keep my options open, ya know? Oh, and I moved into this neighborhood with my folks. A few blocks down."

Tom seemed surprised, and continued to smile. "Oh, at the old Robinson residence?" Laura nodded, smiling back. "Jake's been kind of showing me around. I wish I had a cool brother like you." Laura wrapped an arm around my neck. I played along and laughed. I checked the clock too. It was almost then thirty. Time for chores. "Well, good thing you came back. Mom was starting to wonder if you remembered that it was your turn to rake up the backyard," Tom said, his Yeerk playing the role. "Yeah right. You're just saying that because _you_ don't want to do it," I said, pretending that everything was normal. That there were no psychic and supernatural human girls following me home.

Tom play punched me and we said bye. "Hey, good to see you again Laura. I understand how you feel and that's cool. Give it some thought and let us know," my brother said to Laura, who smiled in return. "Will do," she said and waved goodbye. As soon as he went upstairs, I shrugged. -(It must be really difficult, living with the enemy,)- Laura said. It was weird, seeing a human who could do thought speak. "You have no idea," I said in a low voice. -(Maybe I do…but then again, I've been living alone.)- "Well, I've got nothing better to do with my time, so I could pitch in," Laura offered, in normal speech this time. I said sure. Why not? "I think there's an extra rake in the garage," I started to say, but one appeared in Laura's hand by the time I blinked. "Nevermind," I said brightly as we went out the back door.

"So, how often do you see the Ellimist," I asked after making sure the coast was clear again. Besides, due to the noises we were making, gathering the leaves, I doubt that anyone would be able to overhear our conversation. "Not much," Laura said. "I only visit him when I need to. He's a very busy creature… Keeping watch over an entire universe is a huge responsibility, it looks like." "I guess so," I said, sort of understanding. I walked a bit to the right to gather up a few fallen leaves. "Whenever I get lonely though, I go see Erek or a friend in Spain. His name's Raul." She gave me a small grin. "Free sodas." "Huh, that's cool," I said in response. And it kind of was. "But…he doesn't know about…" "No," Laura said, confirming on what I was going to say. She hasn't told him about her powers. "Only once in a while I visit Raul, and make up some phony story that my fake family and I like to visit Spain sometimes for vacationing," she told me while she focused on her raking.

For the rest of the time, we just talked. I asked about how she came to know Erek. It was an interesting story. "Well, one afternoon, I saw this guy in the middle of the road, and a car was coming. I saved him, but his human form flickered," Laura told me. "Then I was like, 'whoa, what…are you?' and Erek began to explain himself, and that he read off from my special ability energy or whatever. And it turns out he's against the Yeerks, and we've been both infiltrating meetings of The Sharing…so we started helping each other out." "How long ago was this?" "Um…about a year and a half ago. I visit him from time to time." She smiled. "It's cool, befriending the Chee, isn't it?" To tell the truth, I never really thought about it like that. Usually, when the others and I see Erek, it's always the fact that the android has bad news. "Well, they're as good as allies as they can be," I said. "Erek provides us with information on the Yeerks." Then, I stopped. Something really odd was going on. "Hey, if you knew Erek for that long, wouldn't he have told you about us Animorphs by now?" Laura smiled. "The Ellimist didn't know I already knew. He doesn't know everything, exactly." Her smile shrunk some. "I was actually wanting to join you before, but I was nervous. I wondered if I would be interfering until he told me about you, asking every once in a while if I still saw you-know-who."

The raking didn't take long at all with the two of us. Together we made a big pile of leaves to one corner of the fence surrounding my backyard. "Is there anything _else_ you're not telling us?" Us, being Rachel, Tobias, Ax, Marco, Cassie, and me. She raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. "Nothing of big significance," Laura replied. "Nothing concerning to the Yeerks or anything like that. You know as much about the Yeerks as I do." She then picked up the rake as I watched in amazement as she used whatever ability it was to make it shrink in between her palms to be as small as a toy, and then vanish. "How do you do all that, anyway," I asked, curious. "You just think about it?" "Yeah, but I'm not totally invincible," Laura said. "If I can't focus right or not get enough sleep, I'd have difficulties doing what I'd wish to do."


	6. Selfish Birdman

Chapter 6

Just as we were about to go inside, I noticed a silhouette of a hawk. -(Hey Jake,)- Tobias called. Hesitantly, he said a hello to Laura. "Just finished up some yard work," Laura said. -(Jake,)- Tobias started, a little surprised and confused, but I interrupted him. "She offered to help," I said, and that's the full honest truth. I gave Laura a look. She got the hint. "Um, I think there's just one tiny bit of information I forgot to tell the rest of you about…" Laura told him the truth on how long she knew about the Animorphs. -(What,)- Tobias said, not happy. -(If you're going to be helping us, why didn't you mention that!)- "To keep you guys on your toes, I guess," she said. "And I didn't know if I'd be 'interfering' or not if I did meet you guys any sooner." Tobias didn't say anything to that, but, -(Ellimist… I can't believe he would do something like he did to help out Laura.)- "Well, you guys just don't know him well enough," Laura said, mostly for his defense. "I know you're not that fond of him, and I understand why." -(Hey, do you think I _really like_ living as a hawk? I miss some of my old life too, you know. And you should know what I'm talking about, right?)- I was surprised. I thought he was much happier living as a bird of prey, despite the hunting. But even that had some disadvantages.

Laura huffed out as sigh. "What do you suggest I do? Help you with that?" She threw her arms up in the air, helpless. "I could, and would like to, but I can't." -(Oh, I see, the interfering thing,)- Tobias said darkly. "It's…complicated," she said, raising her tone of voice up a notch. It looked like Laura was growing frustrated with him. "Tobias," I warned, but to my surprise, he snapped right back at her. I believe my friend was starting to going overboard. -(Really? How? Are you really that selfish as to keeping your-)- "Tobias," I called again, raising my voice just a notch. "Stop it." He looked at me with his fierce hawk gaze. I assumed he was either mad or shocked (or both) at me, but you could never be sure. A bird of prey will always look fierce. Laura glared at him, a far away red tailed hawk perched on the fence, a few feet across from us.

For a few seconds, no one said anything. It was Laura who spoke up. "Tobias, you wouldn't like the answers if I told you." I looked to her. "What answers," I suddenly asked, suddenly now on Tobias's defense. She looked to me, and then to the ground, shaking her head. "Life has limits, and lessons must be learned," she said, and then nothing. She looked to Tobias. "If you really must know, I think we should go by air and discuss this." Silence, then an answer from my other comrade. -(Yeah, fine,)- he said, and started to take off. Very shortly, Laura had morphed to an osprey. -(I guess that's life. Everyone wants the truth, no matter how harsh it is,)- she muttered and started to flap her wings for altitude as well.

"Hold on, I'm going with you guys," I said, wanting in on this. I felt it was my right to know what she was going to have to say to Tobias. I cared about him very much as a friend. I wanted to be there for support. And to stick up for him if Laura would try anything I would disapprove of. I quickly ran inside, found my mom, and told her I was going out and that I finished the chores. "I guess Laura went home? Tom just told me about her," she said. "Uh, yeah," I said. "She did. I'm going to Marco's house now." Someday, I would tell her everything. When all is safe. _If I live long enough to tell about it_, I silently told myself as I went out the front door. I quickly changed to my morphing suit and started to morph to peregrine falcon. I was shrinking, but it felt like falling. The recently cut grass rushed up to meet me as grayish feathers emerged from my skin. My feet turned yellow as my ten puny toes grew and split into six deadly talons. By the next minute, I was fully falcon. By then, Tobias and Laura were already riding the thermals, Tobias a little bit farther apart from Laura. They were leaving without me! -(Hey, guys, wait up!)- I called, flapping my wings and pushing myself off from the ground.

As soon as we were all together, I heard Laura let out a huge sigh in our heads. A sigh of frustration. I didn't know why. I didn't know what the big deal… -(Okay Tobias,)- she said. -(Remember from the very beginning, when you just fell head over heals for the red tail's form? I don't blame you. I love being a bird of prey, except that I _don't_ have a time limit.)- Nothing came from Tobias. -(You kept wanting to be as the hawk,)- Laura continued. -(And, you got trapped.)- This was true. Ever since we first learned about the Yeerk Pool, Tobias would be in morph longer than the rest of us had. After we bailed, Tobias told me it took too long to get out. Longer than two hours. That's the downside for us Animorphs. Stay in a form for more than two hours, and you stay that way forever.

-(But that's not my fault,)- Tobias argued to Laura. -(I would've flown out sooner if it didn't mean to blow my cover and risk getting everyone caught!)- -(I didn't say it was your fault on that part, but it is sort of your fault that you got hooked, being a hawk and taking to the air,)- she countered. She was being very calm about this, and that disturbed me. -(It's understandable to fly free, but too much of that desire had cost you to as you are of today. Ellimist didn't want to take away that reminder of the two hour limit. If I made you human, _and_ still have the power to morph, chances to be trapped again would be by half and half.)- Out of the corner of my binocular vision, I saw Laura drift to the left a little. -(I understand why he didn't give you exactly what you wanted. I know it sucks, but that's how life is. You can't go through life, trying to find the easiest way out, no matter how hard you try.. And I can't risk my own survival for your greater good. Don't you get that?)- She had now turned from calm to being mad. -(It's not just about you, it's about Earth. How can I do my part in helping the planet I love to live in if I just waste away my privilege and gift on you? Huh? If I want to make the big move, I'll do it for all of Earth. _Not_ just one individual. There, I told you why I can't help you. Happy?)-

Tobias said nothing. I think what Laura told him had hit him hard. But she didn't stop there. -(You know what? Maybe this is a stupid idea. Maybe we won't do so well together after all, if that's how you're going to be, Selfish Birdman.)- -(Okay, that's enough,)- I said. I had heard enough, and I believe Laura made her point. It was just that she was starting to be rude about it. -(Laura, I think he got the message.)- Just then, Tobias left. I called for him, but he didn't stop. I think he was heading back to his meadow. -(I thought he would know better. I thought he would have understood by now,)- Laura said. -(Screw this… First Rachel, then Tobias. Who's next on my case?)- -(No one,)- I quickly told her. -(Look, just give Tobias some time to cool off. You really drove that into him, okay? So back off. You don't have to leave because of this.)- -(You better go home Jake,)- Laura suggested. -(I'm done. I screwed up. Deciding to help out the so called Animorphs was a bad idea…)-

No, I wasn't going to leave just yet. -(No!)- I cried. -(You didn't screw up. It was Tobias,)- I said. I couldn't believe what I just said. Tobias screwed up? _Tobias?_ I could have argued with Laura, but at the same time I could understand why she couldn't fix Tobias's problem. The Ellimist had to be so strict on this. Why couldn't she do just both of these things? Why does life have to be like this? -(At least you seem to understand,)- Laura said. -(I'm sure Cassie does too, being Cassie, but Marco, Rachel, and Tobias…? I can't play God…)- It was like she knew all of us, just by how she said that. It had to be true, because from Erek she must have heard from us for quite some time now. -(Laura, I'll talk to them,)- I started to say. -(You don't have to,)- Laura said calmly, with just a hint of sadness. -(I could still help my in my part in saving Earth, with the Chee to back me up, but I guess I'm not allowed to make anymore partners and friends, I guess.)-

After that, she said. -(It was nice meeting you… I could visit and maybe slip in some secret info when I find it, but to fit among the team, it just isn't going to work out as I anticipated it would.)- Laura was hurt, from as far as I could hear her thoughts. -(Once a freak, always a freak… Later Jake.)- Just what did she mean by _that_, exactly? She started to descend, and I followed from the distance I was. -(Wait, you're not a freak, Laura. You're… unique.)- -(That's nice and honest coming from you. I believe your words, but most people just don't appreciate what they have,)- Laura said. -(I know people. I've learned quite a lot about them since Ellimist gave me this huge gift. This privilege and curse, this gift and burden… You should land, big guy. Don't want to get in the same fate as your friend there, do you?)- I didn't know what it was, but it had to do with that one thing in common: Crayak. I think that was it that made me not land. -(I'm not demorphing.)- Laura's a good person, and Tobias would soon make up to her. I was sure of that, because he didn't usually act like the way he did earlier. In some ways, they were both alike. Tobias was the odd one out. He has no family that cares about him. And he doesn't like feeling left out.

-(Don't be dumb,)- Laura pointed out. -(You've got a responsibility to do, being the leader!)- -(I know,)- I said, angry. -(I want you in on the team. You shouldn't quit because of Tobias, or Rachel. Or any of my other friends! I think _that's_ dumb!)- Laura didn't have a comeback for that one. -(C'mon, let's head back and morph out,)- I said. -(Give Tobias some time alone.)- -(You know… I'd like some time alone come to think of it,)- Laura said slowly. She didn't sound so mad anymore. -(I need to think.)- -(Okay,)- I said, letting her go. -(You'll be okay though, right?)- -(Yeah, I just need some space. I'll contact you later,)- she said. Before she left and told me to go back to human, Laura added, -(You're a good guy, Jake. You're a good leader, and I understand why the others had decided you to be that way. And I, am glad to have met you.)-


	7. Meeting with Erek Part 1

****

Here's the next three chapters before my current writer's block came along for this fic. I'm still in that writer's block. So I'll continue to write that out until I get SOME inspiration.

Chapter 7

I wasn't happy with Tobias or Laura at _all_ that afternoon. They both said some really nasty words to each other and got upset from them. I decided to give them the whole afternoon to think, or whatever it was they had to do. Through the anger, I worried about them both. With the family I have, I couldn't have imagined to be in any of their places if I tried. It scared me.

I went inside my room, and did some stuff. Checked my email, played tug-of-war with Homer. It's been good today. No Yeerk activity to worry about. Just plain, and boring, normal life.

Time drifted to a crawl by the hours. Marco came for a short visit and kicked each other's butts on my Sega console, then he left to go eat dinner with his dad. I knew how much of importance that was. Marco's mom is Visser One. Laura, Erek, myself, and him are the only ones that know. Marco's allergic to pity or something, so he doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him over it.

By late into the night, I wondered if I could give Laura a call, at least, although she said she would reach me. Or I could fly to the woods to check on Tobias. The phone was closer, so I found the card, idly sitting in my pocket and dialed. Brrrring, brrrring… The dial tone rang two more times after that. Was she even at her home, wherever that was? I waited for one more minute, then hung up. She wasn't at home. _Where could she be?_ Erek. I called up Erek. Maybe she could be over there.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Erek?"

"Oh, hi Jake. What's up?"

"Is…Laura there?"

It turned out that I was right, only… "You just missed her," Erek said. "She told me all about what happened with you and Tobias. She was pretty upset, and then went down below to spend time with the dogs, then left. Uh, hey, why don't you stop by? It would be easier if…" "Yeah, I'll be right over," I said. _Befriending with the Chee is cool, isn't it, _I heard Laura's voice say in my memory. So, Erek really did know about her.

I was told to be back by ten when I asked my dad if I could go to Marco's. That was the cover up, of course. Before I left, I called the others. I felt everyone needed to know what Erek had to say about Laura. So, I got into my morphing suit, morphed to owl, and went to the Kings' residence. The secret hideout of the Chee. I wondered what he had to say about her. I knocked on the door, and Erek smiled and let me walk in. "The others should be here soon," I said. "I let them all know." Erek was showing a grim and serious look on his human hologram. That's what he and the other Chee do to hide among us. They form holograms that would age and be allowed to die, only to produce another human hologram. Underneath, the Chee look like robotic dogs that walk upright. They were built by the Pemalites, which is a really long story. To shorten it, they were their companions, and all of them had been wiped out by the time the Chee had made it to Earth. They merged the essence of their peace and fun loving masters with wolves to form dogs. They help us defend Earth mostly because of the dogs.

"Would you like anything, while we wait? Soda? Chips? Anything?" Erek offered. "Uh, that's okay. Thanks." Even though I had eaten a while ago, I wasn't in the mood.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long. Marco, Cassie, Ax in human form, Rachel, and Tobias had come. Tobias was in his hawk form, perched on Rachel's shoulder. "So, what's the call? Something going on? Where's the next Yeerk Pool going to be?" That was Rachel. Whenever it involves the Yeerks, she's always up first to volunteer. Whenever there's danger, there's my cousin. "No, not about the Yeerks this time. It's about our friend Laura," Erek informed. I looked to Tobias. -(What about her,)- he asked. -(Something she's not telling us…again?)- That got everyone else's attention. "What? What happened," Cassie asked. "Did something happen to her?" "Erek," I said, and everyone looked to him. Erek looked back, raising an eyebrow. "You told them on what happened earlier this afternoon, right?" That got looks from everyone, not counting Tobias, who always had the same bird of prey expression. "_Did_ something happen, man?" Marco said, looking at me suspiciously. "Though, earlier, before noon, you told me nothing was wrong." -(Jake, it's got something to do with the argument I had with Laura earlier, doesn't it,)- Tobias said. "Argument," Rachel barged, turning her head and watched Tobias flutter over to the arm of the couch we stood around. "What argument!" It wasn't a surprise to see Rachel go to his defense. Cassie and I kind of agreed that they have feelings for each other. Cassie thinks it's sweet, but I feel kind of sad. Tobias will always be a hawk, as long as he decides to fight along with us.

"If she said something towards you…" began Rachel, a flame of anger rising from within. -(I saw Laura helping Jake cleaning the backyard, and I…was a bit moody around her,)- Tobias said in guilt, preventing her to go any farther. "And…" I pressed. Everyone but Tobias looked from me to him. -(I was feeling ticked off on why she had to follow the Ellimist's ways, and I was being selfish… Okay, okay. I was acting like a jerk. I thought about getting her to fix what I wanted, but she told my the reason why I have to be like I am.)- Tobias turned toward me again. -(I…really got carried away. As all of you know, I really dislike Ellimist, and thought that maybe I could…)- "Well, you had a right to get yourself back to being a normal human again," Rachel said to agree with him, figuring it out. This wasn't like Tobias. If he had something to say, he would say it. "Why didn't she? Where is she? I'll pound her if she talked back at you." -(Rachel, no,)- Tobias told her. I listened as he repeated what Laura had told him. No one objected, because that was the truth. All of it.

Erek joined the conversation now. "Laura 'cannot play God', as she would say, or else everything would fall apart. According to her, there could be worse things that could happen if she did too much. Entire universes could be wiped. Entire sentient species would fall in jeopardy. Worst of all, her life would be in danger."

Crayak, I thought. If she did too much, then maybe Crayak would notice. That had to be it. Erek must have known about him too, right? He sure didn't show it.

"What," Rachel barked. "Danger? To someone who's got Ellimist powers?" "One cannot do everything," Erek said simply. "One cannot know everything." So, he _did_ know about Crayak. He just wasn't admitting it. Has Laura told him about our secret? …I got the feeling that she did. "But that's not the point," Erek continued. "For a long time, she's thought about helping you, but the whole time she's been ever so cautious."

"She's doing all she can to join the fight." He gave us a sad smile. "She's a very wonderful human being, and it's not just about her abilities." He raised his holographic human hands, palms upward. "Laura's been trying all she could to fit in on Earth… I see her struggle at times. Ever since she witnessed her parents vaporized by Dracon Beam fire at a very young age, she's been trying all she could to avenge them. To avenge other people who would be in her position." Erek relaxed his arms. "I've been close friends with her for quite some time, and she sometimes shares her problems with me. She's a very open person. I do all I can to be of moral support."


	8. Meeting with Erek Part 2

Chapter 8

"So, that's what happened when she was six…" Cassie said slowly, and sat down on the couch. I started to feel that way too, but I remained standing. She looked like someone had hit her hard. "Oh, my God. That's…" -(Horrible,)- Tobias finished, sounding just as shocked. Marco and Rachel grew pretty quiet. -(The Yeerks could snipe her out if she did too much damage to them all of a sudden, right?)- "Yes, Tobias. That's partly why," Erek answered him. Ax slumped his human form's shoulders. "…I lost a brother to the Yeerks. I know how Laura feels." "But she was so young," Cassie said, still finding it hard to swallow this. "Way before Elfangor came to Earth! It must have put quite a traumatic experience on most of her life!" "I'd suggest you'd not bring it up in front of Laura," the Chee advised. "She hates talking about it. It would just make her very angry to bring up the memory." I felt surprised. Erek and Laura must have been pretty close as friends after all this time. "So, the other part in why is because of what the Ellimist told her on what she can and cannot do. That's what Laura's told us," Marco said. Erek nodded, but I knew that wasn't the reason why.

"So," I said. "Where is she now if she's not here?" "Asleep, at her home," Erek began to explain. "A hidden dimension only she and I know of, located in between Earth in the moon. It's a very, very small fragment, a tiny purple three dimensional cube she's accessorized into a home. The Purple Cube, she says." "Sounds like some underground club," Marco muttered sardonically. "Actually, part of it is like an underground club," Erek complimented with a smile. "I've been there a few times. A large living room with the latest technology. Some of it from the future. There's also a kitchen and dining room, and a small bathroom. And some sort of basement built like a school gym." He sounded fascinated by it all. "Hey, that would be so me," Marco joked. "I'd get all the latest stuff and gadgets if I had that kind of power. I'd so own over any billionaire." "Only they're small comforts. She'd rather share them with a friend," said Erek.

"Must be a heavy sleeper then," I said dryly. "I tried calling her number and she didn't pick up." "That's because she somehow turns the phone off. She has a mute button installed by the ring tone," said Erek. I nodded. "And what did she tell you, exactly?" I checked my watch. Had plenty of time to listen to this. Good, because I didn't want to be grounded again. Erek looked to Tobias sadly. "Nothing pleasant. She claims that Tobias, was taking his anger from the Ellimist and projecting it towards her." -(Oh, man,)- Tobias moaned. -(Erek, you do know that I had no idea how…)- "Yes, I know and she knows," Erek said. "But she was still upset about that. She worries that each of you, besides Cassie and Jake, would dump something to add onto the guilt she's felt in not being able to undo what the Ellimist has done."

For a while, no one said anything. "So, that's it," Rachel wondered. "Just one more thing," Erek said, standing in between all of us. "I only strongly suggest that you'd clear up the misunderstandings and arguments with Laura. I'll let her know about what we've discussed by tomorrow morning." He looked a little nervous. "I don't think she'll be happy that all of you know about her parents, but I'll do the best I can to get her to give you all another chance. It's sometimes hard to keep secrets from her." _Yeah, so I've experienced,_ I thought, silently agreeing.

"Great, we can all kiss and make up by tomorrow and then have a party at her place," Marco said, grinning. "I'm up for it." Everyone let out a little laugh, including the android. "Well, I guess if that's all you needed to say, Erek, and nothing about the Yeerks," Rachel began. "I'm going home." She started to leave. "Coming Tobias?" -(Yeah, sure,)- he said softly and left with her. I think he was still feeling pretty bad about his behavior that afternoon. Marco had been sitting in the couch, so he got up and stretched. "Hey, can't I walk you home," he called to Rachel on the way out. The door closed as I watched them leave. I couldn't hear what Rachel said, but I'm sure it was some sardonic remark like she'd always say to him in reaction.

Now it was just Cassie, Erek, and me. "I'd better head back, it's pretty late." I nodded. "I'll be going pretty soon too," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow." "Later, Jake," she said and left. I turned to the android. "You know about Crayak?" "Of course, ever since she first saw him in her nightmares, she's told me. She insists that it's up to you to decide to mention it to them though. She understands this because she doesn't like talking about him." "Why me?" Erek shrugged in confusion. A very human thing for a robot to have existed on Earth for as long as he did. He'd grown accustomed to it. "Who knows? I can't figure out everything Laura is. Sometimes she can be a little weird that even an old android like me doesn't understand." I smiled. "Well, thanks for letting us come over," I said. "Thank you for being so understanding," Erek said in return. "You're one of the first she can relate to. An actual human she could fully trust." In a way, it was sort of unsettling. I hoped I wasn't going to be the only one. It's good to know she could trust me, but I hoped someone like Tobias, Cassie, or even Marco would be someone that Laura could trust also. They had much in common, too, in their own ways.


	9. Crayak's Not a Secret Anymore

Chapter 9

When I walked out of the Kings' house and into the warm, humid night, I heard Marco's voice. "Since when did you start getting closer to the robo-dog-boy?" I laughed and had to come up with a small lie, and quick. Marco, or no one else didn't need to know about Crayak. It was bad enough to know that he was after Laura, and not just me. I didn't want that creep to go after my best friend, too. "What's the matter? Rachel turned you down? Hey, it's nothing," I said simply and good naturedly. "I was just thanking him for his time. That's all."

Marco suddenly stepped in front of me. "Bull," he said, not looking happy, exactly. More like in concern. "I knew something was wrong since earlier this afternoon. I didn't think too much of it, but it's got something to do with Laura, right?" Nervously, my voice was wavering as I was trying my best to talk him out of his suspicion. "…I don't know what you're talking about." Marco nodded. "So, something did happen." He threw his hands up in the air and they slapped back down by his hips. "I'm not blind, you know. When I noticed how quiet you were, _and_ the same look on your face as you did before…" He jabbed a finger in my direction.

Weaseling my way out of this just wasn't going to happen, with Marco being Marco. And again, I head Laura's voice in my memory. _You're in charge of the group. Let it be up to you to decide. Not me._ "C'mon," I said and Marco more than gladly walked with me. Because it took me a while to explain on what happened those very last few hours to minutes when the Yeerk inside my head was dying. When I was tied up and protected by my friends, as a Controller. And it took me a little more time to explain on what happened earlier in the afternoon with Laura, while he was frozen in place.

"And as if by fate, Laura left it all up to me to tell you guys about it," I admitted. "I guess that's what's going to happen by tomorrow." "So, not only is Crayak haunting your sleep, but Laura too?" Marco said. "Jeez, man! You can't hide stuff like that from us. What if the big ugly red eye decided to come after you two tonight? We would probably never find out about it, considering on how powerful that creep is!" We were both by my house by the time I had finished explaining everything. "You know, you're right. I'm sorry," I said. "But what if he wants to go after _you_ too?" "Could be just all of us," Marco pointed out. "And if that's so, then all of us deserves to know about this Crayak freakazoid." "Okay," I said, trying to calm him down. "Not so loud…"

I wondered what the time it was… Marco didn't stop talking though. "Hey, what's the deal with Laura, anyway? Why did she only tell you and not all of us at once?" I didn't blame him for being mad about that, in a way. But I wasn't mad with Laura, and I had to try and make him understand about her. "I mean, I guess it's cool that she respects our secrets, but I think this Mr. All Powerful Psychotic of the Universe sounds like a major threat to all of us. Something that should _not_ be kept as a secret." "But the Ellimist is fighting him, and was concerned for Laura when she first told him about the eye," I explained. "So, I guess he's doing all he can to fight him, and to prevent him from going near any of us." "And how can you know that," Marco demanded. "Because Laura told me the Ellimist tried to take away her powers," I said. "He tried to help her, but she didn't let him. It's her only way of knowing this planet." Marco looked at me in surprise for a moment, not saying anything. "Wow, and she still deals with that? …Miss Ultra Being's got some major guts." I nodded, feeling the same. I didn't take much time to think on that before. "That's got to be very hard to deal with." "Yeah…" I turned to Marco, seriousness on my face, I know. "I say we let her be one of us. A part of the team. Not only will she be useful, but it's also that she has no one else besides the Chee to turn to." "And they can't do much damage," Marco said.

So it had been decided. Marco agreed to help me in making the others accept her into our group. I felt it would be good for Laura, to have friends like us. Besides Erek and the rest of the Chee, she's been fighting the Yeerks alone, and life on this world for her wasn't as easy as it seemed to be. Clearly, I wouldn't know, but I guess for someone who could do so much… Maybe there were some good reasons for not interfering more than was allowed.

By the next morning, we assembled in the barn. All but Ax. Someone would have to fill him in on what happened afterwards. I wasn't even sure if Laura was going to come, but Erek did mention last night that he would give her a call. Or maybe he hasn't called her yet.

We waited about twenty minutes, and Rachel let out a heaved sigh. As she was about to say something, a voice said, "Hey." We jumped and turned to look by the back door entrance. Laura was leaning back against the door frame. Tobias never said anything, and even he jerked his head around in the natural bird like way like some predator was about to swoop dive on him. She just appeared. "Will you quit that," Rachel called to her, irritated. "That gives us the creeps!" The Rachel look alike had a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I'll try to remember to come a few paces away from you all from now on."

For a moment, nobody said anything. It was Laura who broke the silence. She looked up at Tobias who was in his usual spot, up in the rafters. Rachel looked like she was about to confront her, because of the glare in her eyes that we both caught in her expression. I touched her arm. "No," I silently mouthed to her. "Wait a second." The glare went away and turned into a look of defeat. "Look, Tobias… I'm sorry about yesterday. Just a friendly reminder though: if you're angry at Ellimist, take it out on him, and not me, okay?" Laura said, looking up to where Tobias was perched. -(It's cool, Tobias said. You're not like him, and I've realized that. I felt bad on my part too.)-

I was about to say something, but Laura must've known what it was, because she said. "Yeah, Erek called. Told me everything." "Not _quite_ everything though," Marco said. Laura looked to me, and her face told me that she knew what he was on about. But she didn't seem too worried. Marco and I listened as Laura explained to Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel about Crayak and how she and I have been seeing him in our dreams. Cassie's eyes went wide in fear and stared at me. Rachel threw Laura a dirty look. But Marco and I came to Laura's defense, quickly before my cousin could say anything that she would regret. Tobias already regretted the mean things he said to Laura yesterday, but it could've been worse with Rachel. She didn't like Laura ever since she arrived.

Laura had been sitting on a bale of hay, a little tense throughout the whole thing. "I don't like this," Rachel yelled. "Not one bit!" She pointed to Laura accusingly. "She's sneaky, in a creepy way. And I don't know if we should accept her as one of us. Keeping secrets from us like that." "Hey, I wouldn't hide it if I wasn't worried about all of you," Laura spoke up in after what seemed to be a while. "I don't know what Crayak wants from me, or from Jake. I don't know much about him, period. Who knows what he could do now, since all of you know about him." "She's right Rachel," I said, but she didn't listen. "Well, why can't you just go up there and prevent that?" She didn't wait for Laura to answer her. I could see Laura's face turning red. "If you're that concerned, go march your all powerful butt up there and kick his. Oh, what's that? You can't? Afraid that you'll interfere too much?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Laura yelled, really loudly. You know, it was a really good thing that Cassie's parents weren't around to hear this. The animals, in their cages, however started making noise and moving around in fear. Laura had noticed this and motioned to Rachel to come with her. "Alright, Ms. Ignorant. Out of the barn. I need to tell you something," she said tersely, and began to walk out of the barn.

****

A/N: I know there will be some Yeerk action, but I just can't see the line in between this chapter and possibly a couple more chapters ahead. So, I'm in writer's block over that. And you can't rush writer's block…


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